In the April 2017 General Conference President Monson announced a temple to be built in Saratoga Springs Utah. Even though we have other close temples, we were so excited to get the experience of having a new temple built near us. Since its announcement we have visited the temple site every 6 months (at general conference) as a reminder that we are trying to build temple lives. It has been a great reminder and we have loved going to see the temple from when it was nothing more than a field, to now a beautiful temple standing majestically upon a hill.
Fortunately, we found out this year that we are part of the Saratoga Springs temple district (from what we have heard, we were in the district, then out, then back in again before they made the final boundaries). This meant that in addition to having the opportunity to visit the temple during the open house, we would also have the opportunity to serve as volunteers at the open house and attend the temple dedication. We were so excited about this opportunity and could not wait to help with the open house. Each Stake in the district was assigned 3 days for which we would be responsible for filling the 600 volunteer spots needed at the temple open house each day. The temple open house was the longest open house ever and would span about 3 months. In addition to serving at the open house, we also attended the open house multiple times to enjoy the experience. Below are some of the opportunities we had to attend/serve at the open house and then also thoughts from Shantel and I on serving at the open house.
One other very important note: The youth (those in young women and young men) also had the opportunity to attend the open house. Lydia was so dissapointed that she just missed out (she had already turned 11 in May, so she was as old as some of the young men/young women who turned all the year before and were already advanced out of primary. Lydia asked if we would please just check to see if she could help and we asked, expecting the answer to be no, however, they agreed that Lydia (or anyone in the stake 11 or older) could help and so Lydia got to serve two different days at the open house and she was so excited and so happy.
May 1 - Serving at the Open House: This was the first chance to volunteer at the open house and Shantel invited Jenna and her mom to come down and do a tour of the open house before her shift. Unfortunately I had a work conflict that day, so that is the one day I could not help with the open house. They walked through the temple and enjoyed visiting and then Jenna watched our kids while Shantel volunteered. She got to serve as a standing usher on the main floor/in the main stairway.
Shantel's journal thoughts: May 2, 2023"Yesterday I had the chance to attend the Saratoga Springs Temple Open House as a guest with my mom, grandma, sister, and our children. It was such a tender experience to go on a day that our stake was staffing the temple (over 680 of our stake members showed up to serve on May 1st alone, staffing the entire temple from ushers and parking to first aid and security.) It’s hard to find the right words to express how special it was to walk through the temple completely filled with people I know and love. Within minutes I was in tears as a sister from the Spanish ward shared her speaking part about wearing white clothing in the temple and how we address each other as brother and sister. I think that being in a temple filled completely with people you know care about you and support you is what heaven must feel like. It was a really sweet experience.
Immediately following our tour, I reported for duty and started my four hour assignment as an usher. It was incredible to see so many people and from so many backgrounds. (I met a man who joined the church in the Middle East, lived in Washington DC for several years and was bringing some friends to come see the temple and it was really really cool). I was able to stand next to some beautiful artwork and although the majority of my shift was spent using simple gestures to guide people up the stairs- it was so neat to stand and study the pictures of the Savior as so so many people came to walk through his house.
I had a lot of people sacrifice to take care of my children while I served and whenever I would start to get nervous about what was going on at home I would remember President Bulpitt’s promise that blessings would come from serving in the temple and I would pray that those blessings would come in the form of making everything go smoothly at home. Those prayers were answered and I’m so so grateful."
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May - David and Shantel attending the open house: Later in May, Shantel and I had a date night for our date swap and decided to attend the open house, just the two of us. When we were waiting in the welcome center, Wendy Rencher happened to be the one playing the playing so it was really cool to see her while she was serving there. I loved walking through the temple. Of course, the spirit there is incredible, but from just the features, I really love all of the stained glass and the blue's and purple's used throughout the temple.
Shantel's Journal Thoughts: June 3, 2023 "Yesterday was our second Temple Open House assignment and I wanted to share/remember a few things about how special the day was. This time Lydia got to volunteer as a Youth Usher and had a great experience holding the door open at the entrance and putting on shoe covers. I was a speaking usher in the Brides room and it was such a neat experience to testify again and again (300+ times) that we believe everyone is a beloved daughter or son of Heavenly Father. I felt the truth that the beauty of the temple is intended to remind us how precious and important we are to God and it was so neat to be able to bear that witness to over a thousand people.
David served at a later shift and we were grateful for great family to babysit the younger kids for the time our shifts overlapped. I felt the spirit over and over, sometimes choking up and requiring my companion to cover my lines. I had two unique experiences where the people listening to our words were touched by the spirit. One group left the room and my companion and I were in awe of how powerful the moment was. One sister looked me in the eye with tears in her eyes and said “thank you” as she walked past. I felt strongly that whatever had just happened, whatever she felt, had been an answer to her prayer and even though I don’t know what that prayer was- I was so grateful to have been able to bear testimony of the love God has for her."
July - Serving at the open house: July was our last opportunity to serve in the open house. Lydia got to serve as a shoe covering usher again and we had some women in the neighborhood who brought Saratoga Springs temple bracelets for Shantel and Lydia which was so sweet. Shantel served as a standing usher and I served in the welcome center and also did the closing clean up crew shift as well (vacuuming etc.).
Shantel's Journal Thoughts: July 5, 2023 "We had another wonderful opportunity to serve at the Saratoga Springs Temple Open House today. Lydia was able to serve at the same time as I was and it was a tender reminder of the spiritual power of the youth of the church. Her desire to serve as a shoe-covering usher and her enthusiasm during and after the experience shows how much her spirit already understands the importance and impact of the temple. I hope that this opportunity to serve at the temple at such a young age will form into a core foundation in her heart and in her life. I hope that it helps connect her to the temple and to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Receiving a temple in our own area has been an incredible blessing and has given me the space to rededicate myself to serving the Lord and inspiration to create a temple life.
My usher placement in the temple today was standing right next to a painting of a beautiful river and waterfall. As I stood and studied the painting, I recalled the words of the Living Christ, speaking about the resurrected Savior, "His voice was as the sound of the rushing of great water, even the voice of Jehovah saying 'I am the first and the last, I am he who liveth. I am he who was slain. I am your advocate with the Father.'" Over and over, these lines repeated themselves to me. As an avid hiker and waterfall enthusiast, I love the idea that the sound of the Saviors voice is as the rushing of great water, and as I stood in the temple - I was filled with gratitude for a sacred place on earth that can help me to understand and recognize the voice of the Savior in my own life."
Again - no picture of me except where I parked.
August - Temple Dedication: We were so excited for the temple dedication in August and planned to attend at our ward building. Just a few days before the dedication we were asked if we would like to attend the temple dedication in the general seating at the temple and we excitedly said yes. We were so happy for the opportunity to be in the temple as it was dedicated. Both Lydia and Austin were old enought to attend (Caleb and Lucy got to stay home with Aunt Amy). Interestingly, getting there ended up being quite the story. We planned to leave at 12 pm for the 1:30 dedication (arrive 30 minutes beforehand and about 25 minutes to get there) so we thought we would have plenty of time. However, we did not end up leaving until about 12:15 and then as we got close to the temple and traffic to get to the temple was so bad. We were starting to get worried we would not even making it by 1:30 and were worried we would miss the dedication. There is only 1 road that you can take to get to the temple, but we finally decided to go back at a church near (ish) to the temple and walk across the field to the temple. We parked at the same church that we go every 6 months to take a picture and track the progress of the temple construction. It was a long walk all the way across the field to the temple (but did turn out to be much faster than if we had just waited in the line of cars). We made it to the temple, but then had a long line to get in, but fortunately made it in with plenty of time.
The interesting part is that we thought that our journey to the temple was symbolic of our journey to the temple in life. It may be more challenging than you think and you have to be truly determined. As we crossed the field, we thought about how our determination was pushing us toward the temple even if the path we took was a little different than we thought and even if it was strenuous, we would not allow difficulties to keep us away from the temple or make us turn back. In our journey in life, we are going to the temple to represent returning to Heavenly Father, and we have to be determined that despite any setbacks or difficulties, we will be turn around and go back. We will persevere and keep moving forward to our eternal home. By the time we made it to the line to the temple, we were dusty and dirty, but we were accepted and welcomed into the temple and we had made it.
We were seated in one of the confirmation rooms just next to the baptistry. We ended up running into the Morley's and Kandace Bradfield and we were all seated in the confirmation room together.
The dedication was beautiful. I few things in particular stood out to me. 1) As we sang the opening songs (Joseph Smith's first vision and another that I can't remember), I remember feeling the peace and power of being in that holy building and the feeling that it is God's house and that his church has been restored and is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 2) The talks were incredible and so uplifting. President Eyring talked about building temples even where there are already temples nearby and that God wants those temples close to his saints who he knows will frequently and diligently attend. Having that temple chose will especially allow the youth to attend frequently and have the power of the temple in their lives. 3) During the dedicatory prayer, President Eyring specifically named and blessed many parts of the temple. As he blessed it, he specifically named the confirmation rooms and it was incredible to feel him bless and name the specific room we were sitting in. Afterwards we sat outside the temple for a few minutes and the kids took some notes about how they felt during the dedication. Then it was back across the field (albeit much slower this time) and to our car to go home. We can't wait to attend the newly dedicated temple.
As a side note, I could not leave out these beautiful temple renderings. The one of the right Shantel was able to use to create a pin that she gave out to the kids at their stake primary activity day about celebrating the temple.
David thoughts on serving in the temple open house: I was so grateful that we had multiple opportunities to serve in the temple open house. As I was serving as an elevator usher I loved greeting people, smiling and then helping them get on the elevator (and pushing the button to send them to the right floor). A lot of the standing usher roles can be a little bit hard because you just stand in the exact same spot the entire time and you are not really supposed to make a lot of waiving actions (unless someone looks confused) and you don't really get to talk to people. However, as the elevator usher you are constantly moving around, directing traffic and talking to the guests. Plus you have a chair nearby that if there is a quiet minute, you can sit down for a minute or two. After about 1 hour, I had determined that being an elevator usher was probably the best job you could have in the entire temple open house. My conclusion was based on those items listed, plus others about why elevator usher really was the best job (even above a speaking usher etc.). However, after watching everything happening in the open house and all the ushers serving and talking to Shantel after her experience, I came to an entirely different conclusion. Every single job in and around the temple was the absolute best job in the temple. Being in the temple and serving was what made it special and being able to feel the spirit. Shantel shared about the incredible spirit she felt during some of the hundred of times she said her speaking part, when you could tell that the people listening were truly experiencing a spiritual moment. I thought of the ushers standing peacefully who had time to look at the beautiful art and just contemplate. I thought about the golf cart drivers who though not inside the temple, looked so happy to be having so much fun driving others around. The Lord was giving everyone who was serving a special experience, even if it was not the same experience for everyone. Although, 2% of me still thinks the elevator usher is the best job.
Likewise, I enjoyed being able to serve in the welcome center to help people as they went to watch the move and do the introduction before going to the temple. I invited my parents to attend the open house, but the way it worked, there was only a 1/3 chance that they would end up coming to my room and if they went to one of the other rooms, I would miss them. It was so sweet because they ended up in my room and my mom was especially so happy to see me.
There was also such great camaraderie to be there serving with everyone from our Stake and I really enjoyed seeing and being with those in our stake. One last note, one of my other favorite experiences was getting the chance to use my ability to speak Spanish. While we were waiting in the basement of the temple for instructions we were all lined up based on the different jobs we were performing. Since our whole stake was helping, the Spanish ward members were also there helping. One of the Spanish speaking sisters was there and did not speak english. One of the people was trying to help her and they came asking if anyone in the hall spoke Spanish. I volunteered that I did and they had me talk to her to understand what her assignment was. We talked quickly and she was assigned to the welcome center. I was able to translate that to the temple assistants and then was able to lead the sister over to the area that she needed to go. A few minutes later, a Spanish speaking brother lined up in the elevator usher section and he also did not speak english. When we were receiving instructions, I was able to tell him what they were talking about and give some basic instructions and then let the Kilgore's (who were in charge of our area) know that he would need some instructions in Spanish. They ended up moving him from elevator usher to another usher job so he would not need to speak. I was grateful for the ability to understand and speak Spanish (even if it is very tough nowadays) and help make the experience better for those two who were also serving in the temple. I am grateful to have the Saratoga Springs Temple and know it is the house of the Lord. Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to attend the temple to access his power and I believe that as we attend the temple, we will be able to make it through life's challenges and draw closer to him and the Savior.
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